USDA EXHAUSTS $4.65 BILLION SNAP CONTINGENCY FUND
On Monday, the U.S. Department of Agriculture announced it will exhaust its entire $4.65 billion SNAP contingency fund to deliver roughly half the normal monthly benefits to the program’s 40 million recipients in November, a direct response to two federal court orders issued Friday.
Judges in Rhode Island (sued by nonprofit groups) and in a separate multi-state case rejected USDA’s claim that it lacked legal authority to spend the reserve, forcing the agency to act amid a government shutdown now in its second month. Benefits will be delayed—potentially by weeks or months—while states recalculate and reissue payments, and no funds will remain for new applicants or emergencies.
The National Council of Nonprofits welcomed the partial relief but warned that millions of families, children, and seniors still face hunger unless Congress ends the shutdown and restores full funding. With the contingency pot empty after November, the future of the nation’s largest food-assistance program remains uncertain.
